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The Vantage
The Vantage

Practical completion: the walkthrough, 62 days from opening

On Friday 18 September we walked The Vantage from the basement of the tower to the Observatory, then through each of the six Retreats, with Claridge Construction. Only a short list remains before handover.

By Brad GaylardThe Vantage
Mark Di Mauro, Michelle Simper, Mike Sheidow and Daniel Johnson stand talking with their checklists in a bathroom under exposed timber beams, arched mirrors lit by globe lights behind them.
Mark Di Mauro, Michelle Simper, Mike Sheidow and Daniel Johnson on the walkthrough, Friday 18 September.

Countdown: 62 days until opening.

On Friday 18 September, we conducted the Practical Completion walkthrough at The Vantage.

Daniel Johnson holds the printed Claridge Construction agenda for the water tower practical completion inspection, a pen clipped to it.
Daniel Johnson with the agenda: the tower floor by floor, then the six Retreats.

Guided by project manager Mark Di Mauro, Claridge Construction's walkthrough of the property began in the basement of the tower and worked up to the almost-complete Observatory at the top. We then went through each of the six Retreats. There are only a few items remaining – things like master keying and hanging art tracks.

Inside the Observatory at the top of the tower: Michelle Simper, Emma Blomfield and Bobbie-Jane Skewes stand in an arched window opening beneath the timber roof structure, with Semaphore's rooftops and the gulf behind them.
Michelle Simper, Emma Blomfield and Bobbie-Jane Skewes in the Observatory, at the top of the tower.
The restored 1880 water tower from the air, its brick shaft topped by the octagonal Observatory, with Semaphore's rooftops and the gulf beyond.
Emma Blomfield and Michelle Simper in silhouette, talking at the Observatory's window, the rooftops of Semaphore stretching to the hills behind them.
Emma Blomfield and Michelle Simper at the Observatory window.

The handover from the construction team to the operations team is a massive milestone in the journey of a new hotel opening. For us, that handover occurs next week.

Seen from behind, Daniel Johnson and Michelle Simper look out through a Retreat window past its curtain, her arm around his shoulder.
Daniel Johnson and Michelle Simper in one of the Retreats.
Mark Di Mauro, in a Claridge Construction shirt, and Daniel Johnson at a lit arched mirror, Daniel reflected in it, with the tower's heritage drawings on the wall behind.
Mark Di Mauro and Daniel Johnson.

Thanks to Mark Di Mauro (Claridge Construction), Mike Sheidow (Black Rabbit Architecture + Interiors), Bettina Hildebrandt (Black Rabbit) and Emma Blomfield (EB Studio), and to Michelle Simper and Daniel Johnson for getting it this far.

Mark Di Mauro, Bobbie-Jane Skewes, Mike Sheidow, Daniel Johnson and Michelle Simper stand together in a tower bedroom beneath a lit wool pendant, a tall narrow window behind them and a light strip curving along the wall.
Mark Di Mauro, Bobbie-Jane Skewes, Mike Sheidow, Daniel Johnson and Michelle Simper, under the Big Glow in a tower bedroom.

It's been a long race, and we now prepare for the final leg, where Bobbie-Jane Skewes takes up the torch to get the hotel operational ahead of launch.

Watch this space.

The Vantage opens in Semaphore on 1 December 2026.

Now accepting reservations for stays from 1 December 2026.

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Credits

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The Vantage · Semaphore

Opening 1 December 2026

An 1880 State Heritage water tower and six coastal retreats, one private estate on the Lefevre Peninsula. Now accepting reservations for stays from 1 December.

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